I wish I had a photo to show you, but she asked me not to take one.She’d only been on the street begging for three days, she told me, after losing her job, and she didn’t want her photo to end up on Facebook or have any proof she was out there because sometimes there were police.“Hablas Espanol?” I told her I did. She was relieved because she didn’t speak any English. I asked her where she was from and she told me Romania, which confused me. But she lived three years in Spain, so that’s why she was fluent. She kept looking over to her stroller to check on her baby she’d left in the shade, on the sidewalk by the corner of busy Zinfandel Drive in Rancho Cordova right outside Sacramento.

I was there today checking on a couple rental properties, and couldn’t help but notice the young lady and her stroller as I drove past, with the sign that said in English she’d lost her job and had two babies. I’m wary of giving money out on the street, but I wanted to do something to help. So I pulled into the adjacent parking lot and rolled down my window and said hello, a pretty girl with dark features and a beauty mark on her face. She came over and talked to me. I told her I didn’t have any cash but I could get her some food from the nearby fast food drive in? She said she’d already eaten, but could I buy a bottle for her baby.

“Quieres leche por su nina?” I asked, do you want milk for your baby? No, just the bottle she said. She didn’t even own a bottle to give it milk.I told her that I’d try to find an ATM machine and come back. I don’t know if she believed me or not, but I did find an ATM and came back. I handed her $40. She thanked me and told me God would bless me in Spanish. We chatted for a minute and I learned she was only 19 years old, and a little more about her and her two children. I asked if I could take a photo because then more of you might read this and see her as a human being not just a problem, but she said no. So I wished them good luck and left and she went back to the stroller with her sign.

Was it a scam? Maybe, maybe not. If she was hustling me, I don’t think she’d ask for a bottle but would have really wanted cash. It occurred to me that maybe there wasn’t a baby in there at all because I’ve seen some crazy Gypsy scams in Europe, but she did keep looking over to check on her baby in the shade when we were talking. Either way, if she was just pocketing the money and she hadn’t lost a job three days earlier, she was still somebody’s victim, or would be soon. For a young woman with no job and no money and no family who couldn’t even speak the language, there are only a few dark options to get by that usually involve doing bad things for bad people.

I hope at least that her and her babies had a place to sleep tonight and something to eat thanks to the $40 I gave her. It reminded me how so far from need I am. I can’t even fathom what this girl, and hundreds and thousands others in this city go through every single day. And this isn’t a Third World country we’re talking about – this is a modest but definitely not ghetto neighborhood in a suburb of the capital of California, the 7th largest economy in the world.

Anyway, I thought I’d tell you about it, but I do wish I had a photo to share. But if you’re anywhere in the area, drive by today and maybe even give her a little spare cash or that bottle she needs – I’m pretty sure she’ll still be there, because it looks like she’s got nowhere else to go.

I hope you're right. I too met a family outside my grocery store with 5 kids asking for help. It was very hot and they didn't even have water. They said they came from Italy a few months ago. They showed me a utility statement of $400+ and said their utilities had been cut off. She said they didn't have any food for kids and baby and one pot and one knife. It broke my heart seeing these 5 kids standing on the street embarrassed at their situation. I spent $1300 for groceries and kitchen items to cook with. I worried about their utilities and possible eviction so I wrote a check for another $1300 for rent and utilities. I arranged to have a charity with someone who spoke Italian call on them to see what they needed to help them. They lived a couple of hours from me so I couldn't do much from here and I also couldn't speak the language and they couldn't understand me. They also had no beds and slept on the floor. The charity called me to say they are part of a group of gypsies who go to different cities with the same story. They all have apartments in a complex but keep one apartment empty for charitable organizations to visit to get services paid for. I didn't know whether to believe this or whether these organizations jump to conclusions based on scams they've seen over the years. The only thing that caused doubt for me was they said they saw this couple before only they said she was his sister. I pray to give them the benefit of the doubt because just "what if" these people really did need help. Only God is the judge. I'm still wrestling with it because if it's true I've lost faith and trust in people who sincerely seem to need help, and I'm afraid I won't be moved to help those who really need help because I honestly can't tell the difference.

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Norm Schriever

Norm Schriever is a best-selling author, expat, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. He travels the globe, telling the stories of the people he finds, and hopes to make the world a little bit better place with his words.

Norm is a professional blogger, digital marketer for smart brands around the world, and writes for the Huffington Post, Hotels.com, and others.